Layered fabrics of many types are known in the art. They include flocked fabrics, e.g. as described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,262,128 issued July 26, 1966 to W. L. Morgan et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 3,314,845 issued Apr. 18, 1967 to J. M. Perri, multi-layered nonwoven fabrics comprising two surface layers of textile-length fibers and an interior layer of short, non-textile length fibers, e.g. as described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,388,028 issued June 11, 1968 to R. R. Alexander, various types of laminates, e.g. as described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,063,454 issued Nov. 13, 1962 to H. W. Coates et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 3,615,976 issued Oct. 26, 1971 to D. D. Endres et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 3,695,985 issued Oct. 3, 1972 to R. J. Brock et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 3,765,997 issued Oct. 16, 1973 to C. E. Dunning; U.S. Pat. No. 3,794,537 issued Feb. 26, 1974 to D. W. Rahmes; U.S. Pat. No. 3,862,877 issued Jan. 28, 1975 to J. B. Camden; and U.S. Pat. No. 3,870,592 issued Mar. 11, 1975 to R. J. Brock et al., and split-web fabric products, e.g. as described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,437,539 issued Apr. 8, 1969 to F. K. Mesek and U.S. Pat. No. 3,438,051 issued Dec. 9, 1969 to F. K. Mesek et al.
In general the layered fabrics of the prior art have been undesirably thin or, if thicker, then too stiff, dense and/or papery for many desired end uses such as, for example, in apparel. Various laminates have been prepared in attempts to overcome these problems, but in most cases simply bonding fiber layers together with layers of adhesive has resulted in fabric deficient in strength (e.g. breaking or tear strength) or in delamination resistance, and therefore not sufficiently durable for various end uses. In particular, launderability has been a problem for many of these fabrics.
Attempts have been made to solve some of these difficulties by through-bonding of certain types of layered fabric, e.g. as described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,388,028, but this technique has been typically regarded as limited to the use of reinforcing outer layers composed of relatively short fiber (e.g. carded staple) and an interior layer that is relatively thin, light in weight and non-uniform (e.g. in fiber density). Although this technique has produced in some cases fabrics of less stiffness, it is also typically resulted in fabrics of limited fabric thickness and bulk, relatively low strength and delamination resistance and a non-uniform surface appearance.
With the object of providing layered fabrics having surface textures and appearances that are novel and more pleasing to the sight and touch, there have been developed several split-web processes, e.g. those described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,437,539. Again, however, these approaches have been typically carried out exclusively with relatively short reinforcing fibers, relatively thin layers of fibers (especially in the layer to be split) and highly directionally oriented fibers in the layer to be split, and the resulting fabrics have been therefore typically characterized by relatively low strength, moderately high bulk density, limited thickness and weight and the presence of a grain or direction on the surface produced by the split.
In light of the foregoing it is apparent that for many uses including substitution for woven, knitted, flocked and/or other nonwoven fabrics in various known uses thereof, a novel class of fabrics that are strong and durable despite a low bulk density, pleasing to the sight and touch and inexpensive to produce is highly desirable. Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide such a class of fabrics, a novel process for producing strong though lightweight multi-layered fabrics of that general type and a novel process for producing layered fabrics similarly having strength despite low bulk density and, in addition, a novel surface layer of considerable esthetic appeal. Further objects of the invention will be apparent from the following description and examples in which all percentages are by weight except where otherwise noted.